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BJ Patel came to America on December 1999 at the age of 23. Prior to this, he had obtained his Bachelors in Chemistry in India. Soon after he arrived in America, he began working at an independent motel in Jackson, MS and worked his way up. Within a year, he began training to operate a franchised property in Pearl, MS. In November 2001, he was moved to California to operate the Hampton Inn at San Francisco Airport. Since then he has assisted in the management of all the California properties. Upon the founding of our development company, BJ took on the role of the Chief Purchasing Officer. Currently, he acquires all of the furniture, fixtures, and equipment for new development and is directly involved with operations and development in California.

He is married to Shetal Patel and has two boys. He also enjoys playing golf and traveling.

Jignesh 'JR' Patel - Executive Vice-President

Jignesh Patel was born and raised in Mississippi. He attended the University of Mississippi and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Human Resources in 2009. He is the son of Roy Patel and has been involved in the business at a very young age. After graduating from Ole Miss, he joined the company with his father. He trained in various positions and managed the Hampton Inn for a few years. He has helped open several hotels throughout his career as well. In 2013, he took on the Director of Operations position. He currently oversees the operations throughout the company and is heavily involved in the opening of new developments.

In addition, Jignesh is married and will soon be the father of a boy. His wife, Jessica, is also in the business and currently operates the Courtyard by Marriott. He enjoys travelling and has a great passion for sports.

Vijay Patel - Executive Vice-President

Vijay Patel, a Native of England with Indian heritage came to the USA in 1973 with his parents to start a new life. His family purchased their first motel in 1975 in Redwood City, California. Vijay studied Marketing and Computer Science in California. With family expansion in Mississippi and Louisiana, he personally started investing in the Hospitality industry in 1986 in Vicksburg, Mississippi. With continued investments in the South, he then moved on to build the first Holiday Inn Express in the company’s portfolio in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1993. Additionally, he developed 2 more hotels and secured 2 other locations for future development in other parts of California. He then earned his CHA recognition in 1995. Vijay also obtained his Contractor’s License in the state of Mississippi and California in 2007.

Over the years, Vijay has sat on various Boards from Banking to Lodging organizations. He also sits on 2 non-profit boards that are intended to preserve culture for the Indian Communities in the Bay Area. His passion is volunteering with BAPS, a socio-spiritual worldwide Hindu organization.

Vijay is married with two sons, Shamir and Shiven. Both of his sons are currently pursuing degrees in the business field and look to join the family business. In addition to nurturing young minds and being employed in the hospitality industry, he enjoys reading, exercising, traveling with his family and playing golf.

Naresh 'Nash' Patel - Vice-President

Nash Patel came to the United States from England in 1979. After attending Southwestern Oklahoma State University where he earned a Bachelors of Science in Microbiology, he entered the hotel industry in 1987. He has developed over 13 hotels since then. In 2010, he obtained a contractor’s license in the state of Louisiana, and he continues to develop and run the operations in the region. He has become an integral part of the business community, previously serving as Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer of West Monroe Convention Visitors Bureau. He is currently active on the Board of West Monroe Chamber, Board of Monroe Chamber, and Hilton Advisory Board for Technology, and he serves as president of Monroe/West Monroe Hotel Association.

Nash’s family is also involved in SHS. His wife, Saroj ‘Sue’, helps operate several properties in West Monroe, LA, and his oldest daughter and son-in-law, Sonya and Ankit, operate the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Southaven, MS. His younger daughter, Tejal and son, Roshan are currently attending school and pursuing business and construction degrees. They look forward to also joining the SHS family in the near future.

Viren 'Vic' Patel - Chief Technology Officer

Vic Patel graduated from B.V.M. Engineering College at Vallabh Vidhyanagar in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science in Electronics. He came to America in 2002, and began working at the Comfort Inn in Pearl, MS. Afterwhich, he took on the role of General Manager at various properties and obtained his CHA. Later, he became a partner and currently he oversees the operations and development in Flowood, MS, along with maintaining and continuously enhancing the company’s technologies.

Vic is married to Bharati, who is also involved in the management of the Flowood properties. Together they have a son and daughter. Their son graduated from Virginia Tech and currently works for Microsoft and their daughter is currently in high school.

Shetal Patel - National Director of Sales

Shetal Patel graduated from the University of Georgia in 2002 with a Bachelor in Business Management. She is the daughter of Roy Patel. She entered the business at the young age of 16. She began working in various positions at their property in Vicksburg, MS. After graduating, she trained as a General Manager at La Quinta Inn & Suites. In 2004, she took on the role of Director of Sales at the Hampton Inn San Francisco Airport.

Currently, she continues her role at Hampton Inn San Francisco Airport, and serves as the National Director of Sales for the company. She is a vital component to the company’s management process. Her role involves the oversight of over five local directors of sales in the Mississippi & Louisiana area. Above this, she is also married to BJ Patel and the mother of two wonderful boys.

Ramesh 'Roy' Patel - CEO/President

Roy Patel moved to the United States in July 1977. He began working with his in-laws at their hotel where he learned about the hotel business. He was eager to purchase his own place and make something of himself. In less than a year, he purchased his first hotel in Livingston, CA. He got some more hands on experience with this property before selling it a little over a year later. His next hotel was a slightly larger, but run down property in Redlands, CA. Here, he redeveloped the property and learned the basics of construction along the way. Two years later, the family decided to sell the hotel and pursue business in the South for a change. He moved to Yoakum, Texas and bought another closed property and began redeveloping it. Here he learned a lot about updating electrical and plumbing for a hotel. Once redeveloped, he sold it in 1982 and moved to Mississippi. He sought an opportunity with his cousin, who had land in a great location in Vicksburg, MS. In March 1983, after much speculation they decided to build their very first hotel. In December of the same year, they completed and opened their very first franchise hotel with 50 rooms.

From that point onwards, Roy has continued to develop new properties constantly seeking new opportunities. Along this journey, he has developed many relationships and partnerships. As the company was getting larger, there was a need for a better infrastructure for the future. In 2003, Roy and his partners founded Southern Hospitality Services, LLC to manage this growth. Through this management company, they were able to centralize operations and accounting. Later in 2010, Roy and his partners decided to integrate the construction process, cutting out the costs of general contractors in the process of development. This lead to the founding of SHS Development, Inc.

Currently, Roy Patel is still directly involved in the development and management of the company’s portfolio. Throughout his growth, his family has supported and immersed themselves as well. His wife, Gita, assisted in operations in any way that she could. In 2003 she took on the challenge of operating the company’s first Marriott franchise. She operated the property for nine years and is now retired, along the way winning Hotel of the Year. His son and daughter, Jignesh and Shetal, are also heavily involved in the business. He is also the proud grandfather of three boys. He enjoys playing golf, travelling, and has a passion for volunteering with BAPS, a socio-spiritual worldwide Hindu organization.